london is expected. to hold an independence referendum just as the u.k.'s prime minister is pressured by his own m.p.'s to hold a similar vote on separating from the european union. iran hosts a team of u.n. atomic experts hoping to make progress in nuclear talks while western sanctions shake the country's economy but not its peoples result. in a french ground operation in mali is launched after days of a heavy bombardment campaign against insurgents but critics say it's washington which played the key role in the rise of extremism in that region.

with worldwide news live from moscow this is with me rule research i thank you for joining us today. scotland may soon get a boost in his push for independence the u.k. house of lords is set to debate providing them with the powers necessary to hold a referendum on a breakaway piece at westminster have already unanimously approved the move normally in london has control of constitutional issues but this sort of would allow it to formulate the question and set the date for the historic vote the scottish government wants to hold the referendum in the autumn of twenty eight fourteen now this mirrors the strong push for independence within the u.k. itself when many feel the country should part ways with the e.u. his police reports. the pressure is really piling on the british prime minister

david cameron because he's set to give a speech on friday where he wants to talk about renegotiating britain's role within the european union and that's a very difficult situation for him because there's a lot of. euro skeptic m.p.'s who are piling on the pressure saying that you know the status quo really needs to be changed at the moment at the same time we've got the british public we recently learned that over fifty percent of them say in a recent poll that they would vote to leave the e.u. because they're fed up with the amount of money that leaves from the british. budget every month goes over to brussels at the same time they want to see a lot of powers returned to the u.k. powers that are currently ceded to brussels to do with extradition to do with the criminal justice system to do with social policies as well so for david cameron it's a difficult situation and there's definitely a feeling that the status quo is definitely being challenge so along with the

scottish independence and the possible referendum over that and britain's relationship with the e.u. it's also kind of on shaky ground at the moment we've got a group of euro skeptic m.p.'s within the parliament who say that they've actually got the backing of over one hundred tory m.p.'s who have just outlined a massive manifesto for change and this comes two days before cameron's big speech and it's almost like a shopping list of demands of what they want to see changed about britain's relationship with europe and if they can't get that they're likely to say well why don't we leave and of course the government has been accused of trying to cherry pick the policies that they do want on part of that sort of membership within the e.u. and to put aside the things that they don't want and reportedly senior officials in brussels have said that the e.u. membership is not an menu and let's listen can't just say we're going to renegotiate our terms it's not as easy as that so for david cameron it's going to be a bit of

a tightrope on friday that he's going to have to walk and all eyes are on him for the big speech on friday. his political reporting right while some scots you're in for freedom of the u.k. . exit from a limp. union for the pandemic unemployment. crisis failed to dampen cypresses goodbye party in brussels with lawmakers praising it for exemplary leadership of the. i don't moderate islamist court coup and protests that have ended their third day coming up here on the program we report on what the government sees as a conspiracy between the people. to depose. for now though the un's atomic agency experts are back in iran for the second time in a little more than one month tehran hopes this visit will bring clear progress but stresses a deal is only possible if its rights for peaceful nuclear energy are respected by

the worst fears iran is seeking atomic weapons and keeps piling sanctions on the country but as. they often have the opposite effect to exactly what. the u.s. may be certain sanctions against iran are not targeted at the general public but there was barely a single person from the population of around seventy five million who hasn't been . used to buy tomatoes and boxes then and now they're selling them in pieces. iran's all expertise fell by one million barrels a day in the last year following international embargoes taken sixty percent of the oil revenue the iranian currency lost forty percent of its value against the us dollar causing twenty five percent inflation in october the highest in decades. behind the current. owners are suffering from rising prices and the lack of food

and medicine in the west side as the measure is a range at making iran give up its nuclear program which may or may not be aiming to produce weapons there isn't is the government that we have here they don't like the government they haven't liked the government for the last thirty some years and because of israeli pressures they do want to see the end of the government and having the sanctions to pressure the public opinion inside iran economy is that the very good they are hoping people will go to the streets and protest and have a revolution but the fact seems to be the opposite. of cells iranian carpets one of the country's proud sources of revenue once a critic of the iranian government has recently had a change of heart for me as for me then why for another people who vote for another country is not forbidden for israel is not for being a father of five for american is not going to be there for you know. on the raft of

war they want to ask me something to do that nor we are free of your free people you know this is the best way which my government. not only do they create anger among ordinary iranians and the iranians see their behavior towards the country as it. is but people in the region see what the united states and the europeans are trying to do so the image of the united states and europe is has been severely damaged but iran's image has also been damaged one recent poll shows iran talks the least as the country with the most negative image popular stereotypes include doesn't you're really just fanatics . in britain and many outlets in the united states want to create an image of. not only you know name government but also the iranian people iran has

been under sanctions for decades but it's not just round the country's economy has been visibly shaken and it would have some people think it's down to the authorities mismanagement the majority it's still the u.s. and western responsible this painting behind me has been here for years and as the supreme was quoted here suggests well look with america even for a moment the tension. likely remain here for some time to come. see. you around. and r.t. is coming here live from moscow as the u.s. is doubling its presence in spain this year and it's just one part of a push for closer military ties across the atlantic as the pentagon chief leon panetta makes his final european tour post. and for now someone to the floor of the european parliament of cyprus was asked to assess

its actions over the last six months during which the country over the e.u. it was a period that saw unemployment skyrocket britain eyeing the exit door and talks on an e.u. trillion euro budget collapse but as it turns out that's not how brussels sort instead he praises on the cypriot leadership. this report. well it was all hunch aches and slaps on the back as any piece went through what cyprus is done in this six month tenure as the e.u. presidency and the president of cyprus saying that it was a time in which they the chief significant results and targets strange words considering that it was also a period in which the e.u. went through rising unemployment no agreement on an e.u. budget and in which cyprus continued to ask for a bailout i have to say a bailout which from here in germany many politicians of all across the the bundestag are very reluctant to approve this amid allegations of widespread tax fraud cypriot banks what happens next the battle on gets passed on of the e.u.

presidency gets passed on to island of course a country that has had its own problems this but on essentially seeming to be passed on in the relay race of the fiscally toxic island of course had to receive e.u. and i.m.f. bailout money they've also had their own problems with unemployment and it's up to them to try and put that right in the next six months which they take over the presidency. he's put all of our boarding right to talk about a high price to overthrow a government of the arab spring revolutions drain the office of countries like libya and egypt that's according to the latest estimates you stay with us to find out the massive bill a changing of regime. other suspected it claims the life of the person dubbed the king of russia's mafia find out how he was killed in broad daylight in central moscow. for now though our french troops are engaged in their first

battle with islamic insurgents in mali and ground operation and comes after five days of intense air attacks that the army is aiming to prevent the al qaeda affiliated militants who have seized a vast areas in the north of the former french colony from moving towards the capital bamako the u.s. is among the states assisting the combat mission however media reports from there suggest that many of those now fighting against the mali government were previously trained by american agents to combat extremism africa expert lawrence freeman told r.t. why he thinks that washington's previous policies have resulted in even more violence . here several ways it is operating i mean first of all you have after the. sas nation murder president khadafi you had basically within hours. in other stream you caused the border with pickup trucks notorious hardware. but

you've also had a failed. so called tree. in mali and other african country. these new units moved their units very very quickly and it was a complete failure always. and when the french are pursuing going to fail because you can't we do we'll solve a real crisis by military means first say there has to be. she. simply forward thinking the united states in the west has to focus on the. economic the girl power the food shortages the excel europe and meet these countries very fragile and susceptible to these kinds of attacks list a paradigm shift of curves and we're just going to be your we more people. you will be doing nothing we hope for. well here at r.t. we always love it when you get involved with the stories we're broadcasting today

at r.t. dot com we've been asking what you think the french combat mission in mali will eventually achieve and on our website we've given you these options to choose from could it bring stability there could it drag out a war could it inside islamists or perhaps result in the recall and zation of mali some fairly stock options for you to choose from right there let's bring up the numbers now from dot com and see how you are voting for this hour as the numbers continue to fluctuate as we go through today's news right now we're looking at the majority who are saying that it's going to result in a long term conflict there it molly now down to the second place of people saying it's just going to have a france will be targeted by terror attacks on its own soil and not coming in of a third it's going to end up as a recall in a zation of mali and out just down to the minority here saying that this multinational intervention which is exactly what it is in mali will bring about some form of stability we do enjoy it when you get involved is still

a chance for you to go to r.t. dot going to have your say it's also worth noting here that currently in france the media there is describing this as a war without images essentially meaning that the government has imposed a media blackout across france so those who are there looking for news will not find it on their local stations or that network so stay with us here at sea and we do know as i said earlier that france has tripled its forces on the ground they've already had one now land all to cation with the islamists in the region england's getting involved america is getting involved as a possible this is going past the point of no return stay with r.t. and we'll keep you posted on this with more news as well after the short break.

wealthy british style it's time to rise. markets why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy cars report. download the official publication to yourself choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorites. if you're away from your television just. not with your mobile device you can watch on t.v. anytime anywhere.

for about six fifteen pm here in moscow this is. one of the russian mafia is most famous figures that have grandpa. has been killed right here in moscow he was shot in broad daylight right in the city center. takes up the story for us now. often referred to in russia as grandpa her son has often been compared to al capone but his demise today is more reminiscent of the death of another american gangster john dillon the one of the biggest crime laws in russia was shot outside his favorite restaurant in central moscow and the law enforcement agencies have already reported that they have found six gun shells at the side believing this was a direct assassination attempt at the grand bar he was delivered to a hospital but later died there without without regaining consciousness now grant by her son was almost like a textbook russian mafia gangster as it's always been perceived in the west mostly

thanks to the hollywood movies he's been involved in many different activities the illegal gambling network the sales of weapons and drugs but many have been reporting on him that he was something of a mediator a middleman. mafia talks and he's always been a peacemaker in a different mafia conflicts very well respected by many ethnic criminal groups in russia and it's not be not the first attempt on his life he's had quite a few over the past several decades most notably two years ago in two thousand and ten there was an attempt on his life when there was information for some time circulating in the media that he was even killed he was shot very seriously in the stomach had a very serious surgery and managed to survive today was not the case granted by her son died in hospital the law enforcement agencies are still investigating exactly what happened in central moscow and what led to the assassination of one of

russia's biggest criminal lords but the main version which is now being considered is obviously some sort of gang war but that is of course is yet to be determined and investigated. reporting right now security forces have barricaded pakistan's parliament with three layers of shipping containers as tens of thousands of protesters pressed forward and their leader an islamic cleric has issued the government with a final ultimatum he's demanding the parliament's dissolution and sweeping election reforms and threatening to spark a revolution if he's ignored earlier the supreme court ordered the arrest of the prime minister was embroiled in a bribery scandal or some government officials have called it a conspiracy between the protesters the army and the courts across one hundred thirty can you hear din is in islamabad for us we are standing here in a very crucial point actually it is called the famous. talk with the local

language where dr qadri and his protest are as are going their ads and demanded the government to step down. and he has added to that the seven demands which briefly says that the all parliamentarians legislative institution should be dissolved and the government has to resign immediately and he's also said in his speech that he would not move from this place even if the last persons would leave but he was going to continue these demands and they knew his their protest here requested all the protests there are very real and a golden chance as he called it to make a change in pakistan which is needed since the initial end of this country in one nine hundred forty seven. shift gears now from pakistan to that of syria where the security has been shaken as dozens of victims from the latest blast in aleppo

clinging to life with a blame game between the government and rebels at full throttle we'll bring you an expert opinion on who actually could be benefiting from the deaths of civilians that's coming your way in just a few minutes. twenty minutes past the hour moscow time a regime change comes at a very high cost a recent study of the arab spring has revealed that the egyptian syrian and libyan revolutions could set those countries back some two hundred and twenty five billion dollars middle east economic analyst thinks the process to revive the economy is concerned will be slow and painful what we're talking about are a complete structural change in how these economies work you know removing and reforming energy subsidies and subsidies changing the way the government deal with business and laws and constitutions and i think we're going to see is several years

the of the hard slog i think it's not going to be as smooth as we saw in two thousand and eleven things are going to be difficult for the region for some time. now online for you at r.t. dot com fifteen years in jail just for a change of name that's the sentence one family got for their wish to use christian names after illegally changing them in official documents. and bringing it home in germany is set to bring hundreds of tons worth of gold back from the vaults in america and france we'll find out why on the website. it's good to have you with us here on r.t. today now more than one hundred and fifty people remain in hospital in syria after

a deadly blast rocked a university campus in the city of aleppo which killed almost ninety and the explosion came on the first day of exams the majority of those injured are students on the place also house some thirty thousand refugees state run media is blaming terrorists for the blast while rebels have pointed the finger at the regime saying warplanes carried out the strike a middle east analyst on my role action russia says the tactics of terror thank you so much to say. we are talking about negotiating with terrorists and there cannot be any negotiation with terrorists this is this is the problem you cannot negotiate with the people who are killing civilians to press you to negotiations this is this is a really big problem no western state no western state no western government. who say now it was here in government that should negotiate and so on and so on and negotiate with terrorists if seen in these countries i spoke to were the student

performance that we universe if you would tell me that one they were also warning from occurring groups they were saying they should be. and they didn't do it so this was a human there's the word for what's taking place right now it's there were more recent bombing it is being the civilians it shall be crisco. who obviously still support the government in its fight against terrorism and in the fight against the insurgents. the outgoing u.s. defense secretary leon panetta is on a weeklong trip to europe to discuss close military link ups and includes a visit to spain by washington is looking to double its defense presents this year spanish international affairs experts believe this is just want one part of america's push to extend its influence worldwide. well.

you have to take into account that there are two strains of thought within diplomatic circles in the united states one of them is that they have to leave you and the most serious danger comes from the east from china and so they feel they should reinforce their military and political presence in asia and the other strain and leon panetta and president obama are part of it says that the u.s. has to be present to both so the operation and therefore they also have to deploy the anti missile defense shield that is a provocation against russia. they are starting with iraq that's going into an alley. and at least seventeen people killed in tuesday's side car bomb attacks near the headquarters of the kurdish democratic party in the northern iraqi city of cook officials said more than one hundred were also wounded no responsibility at this point the attacks by insurgents are still frequent in iraq in the country pressured by ethnic and sectarian divides. two people confirmed dead after a helicopter crash in central london just about

a kilometer south of parliament in westminster and nine others were injured after the chopper clipped a crane on a skyscraper which is currently under construction it's thought the pilot asked to change course because of bad weather. a suicide bomb attack has hit the building of the afghan domestic intelligence agency in the capital kabul three civilians were killed along with the five attackers and thirty more were injured a second car bomb was diffused at the scene the taliban has already said it was response. israeli police arrested more than a dozen palestinian protesters attempting to return to a camp in the west bank last week demonstrators constructed a tent camp on an area israel had marked for new settlements aiming to make a village of their own it was then cleared by security forces israel's decision to go ahead with its plan to build new settlers homes in the west bank has been wide. and it is illegal under international market. now r.t.

talks to a formal former legal adviser to the palestinian negotiating team he says the actions of a weak israeli leadership could have a serious long term impact on any chance of peace after eighteen hundred g.m.t. . terms of the past the crisis of leadership but there's a bigger crisis of leadership in among the israelis we have an israeli prime minister who go to extreme lengths to continue to build and expand israeli settlements who doesn't want to confront the settler movement who simply wants to head israel down the path of war and is willing to go to extreme lengths to get himself reelected including attacking gaza. and it is less than a week now until we find out whether benjamin netanyahu is reelected as israel holds a snap parliamentary election on tuesday the situation in the turbulent middle east heavily dependent on the outcome the whole world will be watching the vote very

closely so if you can't miss out on our special coverage. how will withdraw and develop will settle to isolate can there be peace with gaza what's next in relations with america will listen you know who survive his snap election on january twenty second. israel decides. it's good to have you with us here on r.t. today mourners in chicago have said tearful farewell at the funeral of freedom of information activist aaron swartz he took his life last week under pressure from federal prosecutors to sort of thirty five year jail sentence against him just in morton and expert with a company schwartz targeted thanks to potential punishment never fitted the crime. when everything is said and done nothing in the air and downloaded was ever distributed they did not pursue any charges against aaron i think that should have

told the prosecuting attorney something you're looking at a crime that essentially amounts to download the p.d.f. so to a hard drive. no person was harmed. there was no financial benefit murder received less punishment i mean i can't even imagine how scary and terrible that must be to have your government hell bent on putting you in a cage for thirty years for downloading some p.d.f. so if you're a depressed person that amounts to a death sentence. it's been four decades since the us withdrew from vietnam and its involvement in a war that cost both sides daily both financially and physically and the price paid was too high for similar mistakes to be made again and some vietnam war veterans point to the fact that history appears to be repeating itself with the construct of g. in afghanistan. well the similarities are that we're it's a war of the very alyssum and that the united states is involved in it for reasons

other than the stated objectives. that being the for the ring of the corporate economy and of our our geopolitical stance in the mideast the people that we're writing aside from whatever their political aspirations are preventable people and where it's where foreigners and where in their provinces but just no. foreign government might have troops in say new york city new york city people were to stand together and defend their country and send off an occupation. that's a situation that some of that we had that same problem in vietnam we were we were fighting the local people and with foreign ideas i don't think we pay enough attention to the human cost of war if we did we might be a little less interested in getting into another one now that we're talking about iran. and america the special report in just a sec.